903303
Richard M. Nixon
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“Anybody can swim with the tide. Only the strong can swim against it.”
Richard Milhous Nixon, 1913-1994. 37th President of the United States. Typed Letter Signed, RN, one page, 7¼” x 10½", on engraved personal stationery, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, October 21, 1991.
This is an excellent political letter in which Nixon agrees with the political strategy that William W. Stover had suggested in an earlier letter to California Governor Pete Wilson. Stover, the former chief of staff for California Senator George L. Murphy, had urged Wilson to ignore the ”kooks" and ”nuts" and instead advance ”basic conservative doctrine." He thus made ”this simple request":
[P]lease do not let your understandable irritation at the kooks affect your attitude toward all my conservative comrades. The nuts among us have always been there . . . and it is too much to hope that they will not always be.
But this does not . . . alter the fact that the successes of the GOP has enjoyed the past twenty-five years have been largely due to our setting forth (as you have done so well) what I would consider basic conservative doctrine: sound economic principles, defense policies equal to potential threats, and a realistic foreign policy promoting our national interests. By taking advantage of the opportunities available to you to expound your honest convictions in these areas you can, I do think, squelch the silly sniping from the fringes.
In response, Nixon agrees with Stover’s strategy. He writes: “Your letter . . . to Pete Wilson was right on target. / I made the same points to him when we talked on the telephone a couple of weeks ago. While he has taken a lot of heat for doing what was necessary on the budget and other highly controversial issues, he will be strengthened in the long run by the perception which is rapidly gaining ground nationally that he is a strong leader. Anybody can swim with the tide. Only the strong can swim against it.”
Stover was a friend and supporter with whom Nixon kept in regular contact. He was a 1955 graduate of Stanford University Law School.
Nixon has signed this letter with his initials, as he often did, in blue felt tip. The signature is bold. The letter has normal mailing folds and is in very fine condition. It comes with a copy of Stover's letter to Wilson.
Unframed. Click here to ask us about custom framing this piece.
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